Free Will astrology for the week of Dec. 27, 2017

ARIES (March 21-April 19): “I need more smart allies, compassionate supporters, ethical role models, and loyal friends, and I need them right now!” writes Joanna K., an Aries reader from Albuquerque, New Mexico. On the other hand, there’s Jacques T., an Aries reader from Montreal. “To my amazement, I actually have much of the support and assistance I need,” he declares. “What I seem to need more of are constructive critics, fair-minded competitors with integrity, colleagues and loved ones who don’t assume that every little thing I do is perfect, and adversaries who galvanize me to get better.” I’m happy to announce, dear Aries, that in 2018 you will benefit more than usual from the influences that both Joanna and Jacques seek.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): In the Scots language spoken in Lowland Scotland, a “watergaw” is a fragmented rainbow that appears between clouds. A “skafer” is a faint rainbow that arises behind a mist, presaging the imminent dissipation of the mist. A “silk napkin” is a splintered rainbow that heralds the arrival of brisk wind and rain. In accordance with the astrological omens, I propose we use these mysterious phenomena as symbols of power for you in 2018. The good fortune that comes your way will sometimes be partially veiled and seemingly incomplete. Don’t compare it to some “perfect” ideal. It’ll be more interesting and inspiring than any perfect ideal.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): In 2018, half-buried residues from the past will be resurfacing as influences in your life. Old dreams that you abandoned prematurely are ripe to be re-evaluated in light of what has happened since you last took them seriously. Are these good or bad developments? It will probably depend on your ability to be charitable and expansive as you deal with them. One thing is certain: To move forward into the future, you will have to update your relationships with these residues and dreams.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Poet Diane Ackerman tells us that human tongues, lips, and genitals possess neural receptors that are ultra-responsive. Anatomists have given unsexy names to these bliss-generating parts of our bodies: Krause end bulbs, also known as bulboid corpuscles. (Couldn’t they have called them “glimmering rapture hubs” or “magic buttons”?) In any case, these sweet spots enable us to experience surpassing pleasure. According to my understanding of the astrological omens for 2018, Cancerian, your personal complement of bulboid corpuscles will be even more sensitive than usual. Here’s further good news: Your soul will also have a heightened capacity to receive and register delight.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Mise en place is a French term whose literal translation is “putting in place.” When used by professional chefs in a restaurant kitchen, it refers to the task of gathering and organizing all of the ingredients and tools before beginning to cook. I think this is an excellent metaphor for you to emphasize throughout 2018. In every area of your life, thorough preparation will be the key to your success and fulfillment. Make sure you have everything you need before launching any new enterprise or creative effort.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Experimental composer Harry Partch played one-of-a-kind musical instruments that he made from objects like car hubcaps, gourds, aluminum ketchup bottles, and nose cones from airplanes. Collage artist Jason Mecier fashions portraits of celebrities using materials like noodles, pills, licorice candy, bacon, and lipstick tubes. Given the astrological configurations for 2018, you could flourish by adopting a similar strategy in your own chosen field. Your most interesting successes could come from using things as they’re not “supposed” to be used. You could further your goals by mixing and matching resources in unique ways.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): I wish I could make it nice and easy for you. I wish I could proclaim that the forces of darkness are lined up against the forces of light. I’d like to be able to advise you that the opening months of 2018 will bring you a showdown between wrong and right, between ugliness and beauty. But it just ain’t that simple. It’s more like the forces of plaid will be arrayed against the forces of paisley. The showdown will feature two equally flawed and equally appealing sources of intrigue. And so you may inquire, Libra, what is the most honorable role you can play in these matters? Should you lend your support to one side or the other? I advise you to create a third side.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In 2018, your tribe will be extra skilled at opening things that have been shut or sealed for a long time: heavy doors, treasure boxes, rich possibilities, buried secrets, shy eyes, mum mouths, guarded hearts, and insular minds. You’ll have a knack for initiating new markets and clearing blocked passageways and staging grand openings. You’ll be more inclined to speak candidly and freely than any other generation of Scorpios in a long time. Getting stuck things unstuck will come naturally. Making yourself available for big-hearted fun and games will be your specialty. Given these wonders, maybe you should adopt a new nickname, like Apertura (the Italian word for “opening”), Ouverture (the French word for “opening”), Šiši (Yoruban), Otevírací (Czech), Öffnung (German), or Kufungua (Swahili).

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): I predict that the coming months won’t bring you the kinds of opportunities you were imagining and expecting, but will bring you opportunities you haven’t imagined and didn’t expect. Will you be alert and receptive to these sly divergences from your master plan? If so, by September of 2018 you will have become as smart a gambler as maybe you have ever been. You will be more flexible and adaptable, too, which means you’ll be better able to get what you want without breaking stuff and wreaking whirlwinds. Congratulations in advance, my daring darling. May your experiments be both visionary and practical. May your fiery intentions be both steady and fluidic.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Hungarian psychiatrist Thomas Szasz dismissed the idea that a person should be on a quest to “find himself” or “find herself.” “The self is not something that one finds,” he said. Rather, “it is something one creates.” I think that’s great advice for you in 2018, Capricorn. There’ll be little value in wandering around in search of fantastic clues about who you were born to be. Instead you should simply be gung-ho as you shape and craft yourself into the person you want to be.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Is there anything about your attitude or your approach that is a bit immature or unripe? Have you in some way remained an amateur or apprentice when you should or could have become fully professional by now? Are you still a dabbler in a field where you could be a connoisseur or master? If your answer to any of these questions is yes, the coming months will be an excellent time to grow up, climb higher, and try harder. I invite you to regard 2018 as the Year of Kicking Your Own Ass.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In 2018, one of your themes will be “secret freedom.” What does that mean? The muse who whispered this clue in my ear did not elaborate further. But based on the astrological aspects, here are several possible interpretations. 1. You may have to dig deep and be strategic to access resources that have the power to emancipate you. 2. You may be able to discover a rewarding escape and provocative deliverance that have been hidden from you up until now. 3. You shouldn’t brag about the liberations you intend to accomplish until you have accomplished them. 4. The exact nature of the freedom that will be valuable to you might be useless or irrelevant or incomprehensible to other people.

Homework: Name 10 items you would put in a time capsule to be dug up by your descendants in 500 years. Testify at Freewillastrology.com.

We begin the new year on Monday with a full moon—the Capricorn solar festival, a most auspicious beginning bringing light to the future. The full moon is like a flower in full bloom, offering its fragrance, its loveliness, its inner and outer self to the world, hiding nothing before quickly fading away into itself.

A full moon in Capricorn at the beginning of a new year, with Venus and Saturn also in Capricorn, sends a message to humanity to those who understand the new world, the new era, the “new world order” (originally an esoteric phrase, appropriated and misused today): the structure of the new Aquarian Age is to be created by humanity’s imagination and creative visualizations.

The full moon (12 Cancer) reflects the Sun at 12 degrees Capricorn. The sun in the U.S. is 12 degrees Cancer (with Sirius, the blue white star that oversees the U.S. at 13 degrees Cancer). The U.S. has a spiritual task: to stand in the light and to lead humanity and all the nations towards that light. Light contains specific information (circadian rhythms) that humanity seeks. Light contains the information for humanity’s freedom.

And appropriately, concerning humanity’s freedom, Tuesday, Jan. 2, Uranus—planet of freedom, liberty, revolution and revelation—is stationary direct. That means, after five-plus months of retrograde motion (inner work for humanity), Uranus will be move forward (24.34 degrees Aries), calling us to intelligent and wise action towards the liberation of humanity. Because the heavens oversee humanity and the Earth’s kingdoms, everyone is called to this task. Who will respond?

ARIES: The new year takes you on many new adventures, twists and turns, providing multiple and unusual eventful experiences that at first surprise, then reveal to you your depth of intelligence and creative imagination. You will want to bring these forth into the world, become entrepreneurial, create new structures that are part of the new economy. All things profound will shake your present world.

TAURUS: You may remember previous intimate relationships over the next three weeks. It’s good to assess what was gained, what worked, what didn’t and how your belief systems (patterns learned when you were small) affected the outcomes. Something special is or will be occurring on inner levels. Perhaps it’s that you understand how love works. And you begin to love more, receiving and giving.

Gemini: Your life direction comes into focus, along with who you want to be in the new year. These are very important considerations. Sometimes we don’t know what life has in store for us. It’s a surprise, directed by the need to share and serve. Sometimes we can’t visualize the future because it’s not formed yet. What are you striving toward? With whom? What environments would reflect you?  What do you love?

CANCER: Unusual fears may appear in your emotional body. Inform them they are not welcome. Others can assist you if you share with them your difficulties. Fear can become addictive, looping over and over in the lower mind, bringing us to our knees metaphorically. If there is lamentation and grief, allow them. But fear is simply based on lack of information. What are you seeking to know?

LEO: Daily work and agendas, interactions with co-workers will be the focus. Something from the past appears and through intentions for right relations you create a state of cooperation that heals and harmonizes. Home life feels changed. A previous restrictive attitude from someone is difficult. Eventually this must be faced, lest something is lost forever. Schedules shift constantly. You adapt.

VIRGO: It’s good to know there’s a difference between what makes you happy and what makes others happy. They are not the same. It’s a service within ourselves when we ask, with interest, what makes another person happy, soothed, comforted and cared for. When we understand this, we might sacrifice our own comfort. Should we do so, joy replaces discomfort and happiness is ours.

LIBRA: The following issues will be on your mind through the next months: your mother, your nurturing capabilities, relationships with children, where and how you live, family life, and the quality of nurturing given and received. Realize conflict is a call for the next level of harmony to appear. Therefore, patiently and with kindness, work through all conflicts. What you think you want may not be available. Something greater appears.

SCORPIO: What is the status of your car? Does it need repairs or tuned-up? Do you need a new car? What things need upgrading? Are there people you must contact, tasks, bills and correspondences waiting for your attention? Whatever must be done, accomplish it slowly, with care and attention, giving yourself more time than usual. At the end of the day, reviewing the day, see that the day was good.

SAGITTARIUS: Previous financial situations unable to be considered ‘til now have your attention. With all monetary actions, check and recheck the amounts, for there could be errors. It will be important to re-evaluate spending. I think you have many valuable items, which could be sold so you can purchase needed things and have more capital to work with. You have entered the environment you have envisions to build. There’s more to come.

CAPRICORN: You ponder upon how others perceive you. Realize you have leadership abilities. In the next year, you will be of aware a new self-identity emerging. Do not allow criticism to undermine your (or anyone’s) goodness. There may be a challenge between your love of self and your critical judgmental self. Someone may activate this. You flourish in a group of like-minded people. Your heart opens to learning, sharing and giving.

AQUARIUS: Several times in our lives, we have spiritual experiences that lead us to reassess life’s purpose and our individual purpose within life itself. We refine and redefine, we ask for and seek justice, often blinded, often hidden unless we look beneath the surface of accepted reality. Ethics become important. What are your ethics? What actually are ethics? Remember at all times to radiate goodwill. It creates ethics.

PISCES: Reassessing friendships and social interactions, future goals, hopes, wishes, dreams and aspirations will be your currents of thought in the coming year. Whenever we feel tension and longing, know a new need is appearing. What are your desires and aspirations? They direct us toward our future. Draw them, paint them and write about them daily. Then a magnetic field of attraction appears around you.